Boeing repeats test of crew capsule
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Boeing’s crew capsule rocketed toward orbit Thursday on a repeat test flight without astronauts, after years of being grounded by flaws that could have doomed the spacecraft.
Only a test dummy was aboard. If the capsule reaches the International Space Station on Friday and everything else goes well, two or three NASA test pilots could strap in by the end of this year or early next for the company’s first crew flight.
It’s Boeing’s third shot at the high-stakes flight demo.
Starliner’s first test flight in 2019 was stricken by software errors so severe that the capsule ended up in the wrong orbit and had to skip the space station. After dozens of safety fixes, Boeing returned a different capsule to the launch pad last summer. Corroded valves halted the countdown.
The drawn-out test flight program has cost Boeing approximately $600 million.
Boeing is attempting to catch up with Spacex, NASA’S other contracted taxi service. Elon Musk’s company has been flying astronauts to and from the space station for two years and delivering cargo for a decade.
Eager to reduce its pricey dependency on Russia for crew transport, NASA hired Boeing and Spacex to launch astronauts to the space station after the shuttle program ended in 2011.
Similar in function to Spacex’s Dragon capsule, Boeing’s fully automated capsule will attempt to dock at the space station on its own. Station astronauts will be ready to steer the capsule by remote control, if necessary.
Starliner will spend close to a week at the space station before aiming for a touchdown in New Mexico.